FDA Approves New Antibiotics
To Treat Respiratory Infection

WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration, in a year-end flurry of drug approvals, cleared for marketing two one-a-day antibiotics to treat respiratory infections in adults.

One of the new antibiotics is levofloxacin, which Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical plans to market under the brand name Levaquin as a treatment for common types of pneumonia, bronchitis and sinusitis. Together, those infections affect more than 50 million Americans a year. The antibiotic will be available next month in tablet and intravenous forms,...